memory_alphafandomcom-20200223-history
Where Silence Has Lease (episode)
The Enterprise is trapped in a pocket of space totally devoid of any other object. Summary The ''Enterprise''-D encounters a "hole in space" that is apparently devoid of both matter and energy. Conflicts ensue as the intelligence responsible for this anomaly engages the Enterprise and its crew in a laboratory experiment. The ship encounters the sister ship ''Yamato'', which has become adrift in space. Riker and Worf are beamed aboard the ship to look for answers as to the whereabouts of the crew. They discover that the ship is not what it seems to be. They experience phenomenon which cause them to enter different parts of the ship in a manner that is otherwise physically impossible. Back on the Enterprise the crew encounters the phenomena and discover that it has a level of intelligence. It later interviews every single crew on the bridge and conducts an experiment on Ensign Haskell. Data mentions the name Nagilum but does not elaborate further. Haskell suffers from some unknown ailment which results in his death. This comes after a discussion of Humans and their short life span. Captain Picard is now made aware of the present situation. He opts to initiate the ship's auto-destruct sequence rather than allowing the entity to perform many more experiments at the cost of a third to half of the ship's population. Picard, Data, and Troi meet to discuss death and the implications of death. After a long discussion, Picard catches on that Data is merely Nagilum in Data's appearance. Picard verifies Data's position, which is in the bridge, then mentions Nagilum's name. Nagilum vanishes and lets the crew back into space. Shortly after, the auto self destruct is cancelled and the crew members resume their activities. Picard and Nagilum carry on a conversation at the end of the show. Nagilum establishes that he was doing research on the Human species. He states the flaws of the Human species and highlights that death is the source of human flaws. The conversation ends when Picard highlights the flaws of the entity. Background Information * This episode contained a couple of nit-picks including: : - The [[USS Yamato|USS Yamato]] was given the registry "NCC-1305-E". : - Chief Miles O'Brien was called "lieutenant." : - Data uses contractions throughout. : - Data was mistaken in saying that "There is no record of any Federation vessel encountering anything like this." The USS Enterprise NCC 1701 captained by James T. Kirk encountered a similar zone of darkness in The Immunity Syndrome. * Writer Jack B. Sowards wrote the screenplay for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. * The music that plays in the background while Picard is in his quarters near the end of the episode is Eric Satie's "Gymnopedie #1". * The name Nagilum is "Mulligan" backwards, a homage to actor Richard Mulligan, who was originally set to play the role. * There are hints of the classic Star Trek "Fight Music" (see TOS: "Amok Time") in the holodeck scene with Riker and Worf. * The title is taken from a line of the Robert Service poem The Spell of the Yukon. * If the pocket of space the Enterprise entered was truly devoid of any matter, the blue haze surrounding the ship wouldn't exist. * With no new sets, this episode is a true bottle show. Links and References Guest Stars *Diana Muldaur as Katherine Pulaski *Earl Boen as Nagilum *Charles Douglass as Ensign Haskell *Colm Meaney as Lt. O'Brien (Transporter Chief) References Ancient history; auto-destruct; calisthenics program, Klingon; cloaking device; Cornelian star system; ''D'deridex''-class; "First Gymnopédie"; "hole in space"; Morgana Quadrant; parsec; probe, class 1; Romulan; Satie, Erik; science vessel; Starfleet Academy; stationary beacon; tritanium; ''Yamato'', USS Category:TNG episodes de:Illusion oder Wirklichkeit es:Where Silence Has Lease fr:Where Silence Has Lease nl:Where Silence Has Lease